64 Days to Go: Anthropologie Copycat

I had a little joint crafting day with my gal Sonya Nimri and we created some fun projects inspired by a few things we became obsessed with from Anthropologie.  This $128 clutch was one obsession and we were determined to DIY it with things we already had in our clothing and craft closets!

We started with this vibrant bag from Thailand because we wanted something bold and with a detailed pattern to mimic the beaded diamond shapes at the bottom of Anthro's clutch.

This piece will make a perfect clutch base!  We went to some gold leather scraps next...

...to mimic the gold leather "flakes" (that's what Anthro calls it!) from the inspiration clutch.  We used a Cuttlebug die cut machine along with a leaf print cutting die to make our gold leather bits.  We cranked about 35 through the machine...

...and got a pile of these guys!!

I love how pretty they look!  We trimmed slits through the lavender sides of the bag to open the piece up and make it flat.  This is just going to make it much easier to sew these leaves in place.

We tested out location for the shapes before we began to stitch.  We decided to have three rows of the leaves, so we started with the bottom row first and stitched the leaves in place.

We put the next row down, stitched it in place, and then did the same thing for the final row.

With the leaves stitched in place, we folded the clutch in half, wrong side out, to stitch the sides together and then added a zipper at the top.

We took a rectangular leather section about a foot long, and folded and stitched it to create our wrist strap!!

The elbow grease was in full effect as we hand stitched the strap to the clutch with a ridiculously large/thick needle.

I couldn't have been happier with the outcome.  It's done, it's done!!  I love that it really embodies the essence of our inspiration clutch!

I'm obsessed with it.  So obsessed that I wore it out immediately for a movie night with my pal RM.

We were starving and running late so we grabbed paninis at the Barnes & Noble Café.  PS, I was completely unaware that they served anything other than coffee and muffins/cheesecake slices!!  I wish I took a better pic, but on the table that we sat, someone left their reading materials which included a Running a Food Truck For Dummies book.

You can see a smidge of the yellow and black striping on the cover!!  I mean, they have a Dummies book for everything!

We scooted next door into a screening of For A Good Time, Call and got a super fun parting gift...a phone!

Well...a phone handset in pink that matched the ones used in the movie.  Guess who's got two thumbs, wearing a blue shirt, and already on the party line?

You guessed it!!  Oh, and don't think Call Me Maybe jokes/YouTube reenactments didn't start flowing immediately...

Happy Friday friends!!

65 Days to Go: Laura's Donation

Laura in IL sent me this gorgeous piece today!  And...I'm not even being facetious when I say gorgeous!!

I was in the local thrift shop and they were having a $1 per piece of clothing sale.  I was specifically looking for cable knit sweaters to make into pillows (see pillow pic at the bottom of the page!!) - I saw some online somewhere for $80 and I knew I could make them cheaper - and came across this piece and had to get it.  It's not my size (too small) but I just know you can make something exceptional out of it.  I believe it's part of a sari - the color is great and the beading is fab!

I was obsessed with this piece when I saw it.  The color was my fave - mint green!!

...and the beading was delicious!!

The problem...the maje slits on each side, especially if nothing is being worn underneath!!

Time to make this fabulous!  (...and by fabulous, I mean make this a dress!!)

I started off by trimming the piece.  I wanted to make it shorter to hit me right above my knees!  Post-cutting, I was left with these scraps!

I started working on the hem by pinning one side...

...and then the other!

I can't have this puppy open all the way up to my upper thighs, so I began to pin the seams together on both sides until it hit where I trimmed earlier.

With the pins in place, I started to stitch it all together!!  I can almost smell the dress being done!!  Woo!!

I paired my sewn together dress with some nude vintage Jennifer Moore heels and an arm party of bracelets to head out for the night!

I got together with my girl AK for a fun eve benefitting The Breast Cancer Research Foundation hosted by Loft and Giuliana Rancic.  We took lots of photo booth pics which was smart/good/necessary because...

1 - I didn't charge my camera enough and it died, and...

2 -  I left my phone at home on the stove top.  Yeah, you read that right...at least I didn't absentmindedly put it in the fridge.  (The remote was found there one morning, so just sayin!)

I have to say that the lighting was simply amazing!  It really just made the top of the dress shine like little fireworks!

Nothing like getting goofy with props from the prop table!

I skipped on the feather boa, but went to town on the neon light sticks!

PS, I accidentally walked out of the party with those prop sunglasses still on my head.

We shot a slew of pics and divvied up the 4x6 print outs that we received.  Time to fill a frame :)

The best kind of night - catch up with pals as well as having alternative camera options (and accessories) for blog purposes :)

"I would like to thank you as well for doing this blog - it really is an inspiration to see how you take things and switch them up and make them AWESOME!"

Oh and those pillows Laura spoke about earlier...she made all three AND her chair was just $10.

Laura's words (all in caps) and mine - "I LOVE RESALE"

You go girl!!  That Polo pillow (say that three times fast!) is absolutely adorable!!

66 Days to Go: Wednesday Giveaway!

How's everyone's week going so far?!  I'm not going to lie...I'm going through Olympics withdrawals!!  Especially re-reading everyone's favorite moments from the Olympics in the comment section, I wish they were every year!!  (PS, congrats to Tami for winning last week's trinket box/earrings giveaway!) I've been totally enjoying watching all the athletes hit the talk show circuits though, medals around their necks!  I just finished watching the USA women's gymnast team on Dave Letterman.  Love that they all fit on a loveseat!  At least it's only 18 months until the winter games in Sochi!

OK, today I'm giving away something I love - a necklace from Smart Glass Jewelry.  I've had one of these for years and think it's amazing because it's made from recycled glass bottles.

The perfect thing to wear with your recycled and upcycled dresses!

To enter, leave a comment below with something you've reused or recycled into something brand new.  Perhaps you've turned old two liter bottles into bird feeders or used empty prescription/Advil bottles as bead holders (I'm a fan of that one!).  A winner will randomly get chosen 8/22!